CVE-2017-16557
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedK7 Antivirus Premium before 15.1.0.53 allows local users to gain privileges by sending a specific IOCTL after setting the memory in a particular way.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceK7 Antivirus Premium before version 15.1.0.53 contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability in its kernel-mode driver. Unprivileged local users can gain elevated (SYSTEM) privileges by sending a specific IOCTL request to the driver after setting memory in a particular way, allowing arbitrary code execution at kernel privilege level.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 15.1.0.53< 15.1.0308< 14.2.0137< 15.1.0297< 15.1.0324< 16.0.0131< 15.1.0324CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed K7 productOpen Programs and Features or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select DisplayName, DisplayVersion' to list installed software. Look for K7computing Antivirus, K7computing Endpoint, K7computing Internet Security, K7computing Total Security, or K7computing Ultimate Security.Affected if Any K7 product from the affected product list is installed
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Determine installed version numberNote the DisplayVersion value from the registry entry or program properties. For K7 Antivirus Premium, look for version 15.1.0.53 or the build numbers (e.g., 15.1.0308, 14.2.0137, 15.1.0297, 15.1.0324, 16.0.0131).Affected if The version shown is lower than the fixed version for your product
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Compare against affected version rangesMatch your product and version to the affected ranges: K7 Antivirus < 15.1.0.53 or < 15.1.0308; K7 Endpoint < 14.2.0137; K7 Internet Security < 15.1.0297; K7 Total Security < 15.1.0324 or < 16.0.0131; K7 Ultimate Security < 15.1.0324.Affected if Your specific product version falls within any of the listed vulnerable ranges
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Verify kernel driver presenceOpen Device Manager and look under 'Non-Plug and Play Drivers' or run 'driverquery /v' to list loaded kernel drivers. Look for K7 security driver files (typically named with 'K7' prefix such as K7AVSFP.sys, K7.sys, or similar).Affected if A K7 kernel driver is loaded and the software version is vulnerable
You are affected if a K7 security product is installed with a version number lower than the fixed release for that product line, and the kernel driver is active.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data14.2.013715.1.0.5315.1.0297
Update K7 Antivirus Premium to version 15.1.0.53 or later to obtain the vendor patch for this privilege escalation vulnerability.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16557 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-16557 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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